NBA.com's Rookie Survey

Kobe getting a lot of love in that survey. I thought these kids don't want to play with him. But they like Durant the best.

Do it, Mitch.

 

Yeah, that is absolutely how I felt as well. I was all in for Okafor and I'd still choose him over Russell. But the pick is made and Russell has a lot of upside. Time will tell if it was the right decision or not, but they made it clear why they wanted Russell. It was nice to see Russell get so much love as the number one projected playmaker. Hoping good things for the kid and for us going forward with him.

Interesting to see Anthony Brown get a little bit of love as best shooter. So far, I just have NOT seen that out of him although I only watched a couple/few games in the summer league. I hope he develops into that three and D SF that we so desperately need.

 

Not that it really takes away from the points of why we'd want Okafor, but Stephen A made the point on First Take about this, that rookies probably look at flashy/athletic play, sportscenter highlight type stuff, over playmaking. He said rookies come in appreciating that stuff more having watched it, but will probably come to appreciate a John Stockton type playmaker as their years in the NBA go by. I take that to mean those that play with a guard like Russell will appreciate him much as they go along, as opposed to those who don't have a PG or playmaker that makes the game easier for everyone. He also said as long as he's healthy Okafor is 20/10 for a decade and it's a tough choice for sure. Skip of course said we made a mistake.

Speaking of John Stockton, man how good was that guy. Was watching the '92 All-Star game the other day, such a good playmaker, shooter, defender. He was out there playing regular defense in an AS game. It'd had been so long that I had forgotten how good he really was, but he moved and played like Nash, well before Nash did, except he played defense as well.

 

One of the things that used to blow my mind, Weezy, was that Stockton set insanely great picks for Malone. At 6 feet tall (in shoes maybe)! That dude was tough. He had the all around game. Man, I really hated his team, and I rooted against him every chance I could, but he was one heck of a classic player.

If Russell could come anywhere near Stockton's effectiveness and longevity then we will have made a great pick, although once again I preferred a big, specifically Okafor for the low post game. Here's hoping both of them are great and have terrific careers.

 

I didn't see awful... I just saw nothing of note. Seemed more like an NBA practice body than an NBA player.